Quangsheng No. 043 Plough Plane with 8 Blades Reviews

4 Rating 15 Reviews

Supplied complete with both metric blades in 3mm, 6mm, 9mm, and 12mm, plus 4 imperial blades in sizes ⅛", ¼", ⅜", ½". You also have the option of adding a kerfing saw blade at half price.
Investment cast stainless steel replaces cast iron in this redesign of the classic No. 043 plough plane.
The essence of the tool as a simple, fast, quiet way to create grooves for drawer bottoms, back panels, windowsills, picture frames etc is retained. But with better materials and a bit of lateral thinking, a few notable improvements have been made.
The greater strength of steel and a clever rethink of the rear fence rod hole has enabled Quangsheng to replace the stippled casting web of the original with a larger, more comfortable, open bow handle that you can really tuck your fingers into.
Most sheet material these days is metric, but the imperial cutters give you the option to choose a sliding fit to allow for expansion and contraction.
The other significant change is the addition of a clamping attachment so that a saw blade can be connected to the skate. This allows the plane to be used for cutting arrow straight starter kerfs for rip sawing boards to width and for cutting accurate stringing from the corner of a blank for inlaid work.
Rather than expecting you to make your own, a removable American Cherry sub-fence has been included with the tool, the larger contact area improves stability and accuracy. The fence is relieved so that you can still use a portion of a wide cutter to form a rebate on the edge of a board.
Like the original it also features the ultimate in state of the art airborne dust management - not producing any in the first place!
Please note that we are unable to ship Quangsheng products to North America due to retail exclusivity restrictions.

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“Item came with a chipped 1/4 inch iron blade, and also a crossed thread on the depth setting plate securing screw. Workshop Heaven were very quick to arrange a replacement and could not apologise enough. Hasn't put me off from ordering tools from Workshop Heaven in the future.”

1 Helpful Report

Posted 4 months ago

“Looks great but 1 of the screw fittings on wooden shoulder just spins. No fastening, just threaded into the wood and doesnt bite, about 1mm of play. Awaiting call back from WH.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 months ago

“I have not a chance to use it in anger yet, but my first imression is "nicely made and comfortable to use"”

Helpful Report

Posted 11 months ago

“Lovely little grooving plane. Wished I brought it when it was only £125 !! Couple of years ago.”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 year ago

“Worked well straight from the box. Well made. I used it for making grooves in a drawer. Simple to use.”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 year ago

“I really wanted to like this plane - it looks the part and comes with a good selection of blades and accessories. After unpacking and a quick test cut I found there were several issues that needed to be resolved. The casting (as noted in other reviews) has rough edges that need easing with a file. Nothing too bad but enough to graze a finger or mark the workpiece. The wooden fence needed serious attention - not aligned parallel with the body of the plane, uneven surface, a splintered corner from poor machining and not sitting at 90 degrees to the blade. This resulted in the plane canting over at an angle when pressing the fence flat onto the workpiece. The depth stop doesn't register flat on the workpiece - mine hits with the toe first rather than the heal as others have noted. The threads on all the adjusting screws are poorly cut with metal swarf and burrs affecting the screws. The adjustable fence needed a lot of de-burring to make the thumbscrews work cleanly and the fence to slide smoothly on the rods. After spending a morning fixing these problems the plane now cuts well. The blades are excellent and once sharpened hold a good edge. They are sharp from the package but not properly sharp - worth spending a minute lapping the backs and getting a proper edge put on them. To sum up - a well designed plane that is let down by bad finishing and poor quality control. A quality tool shouldn't need 3 hours fettling to make it work properly. I'd expect this if I was restoring a vintage tool but not a new one out of the box. I'd give it 2 out of 5 but the inclusion of the extra blades brings it back up to 3 out of 5. This is my first Luban plane and based on this example I'd think twice about buying another.”

3 Helpful Report

Posted 1 year ago

“Design and Construction The plane body feels solid and well built. The system to hold the iron in place works well. The plane comes with a good number of irons in both imperial and metric (I have not checked dimensions for precision, though). The plane is on the small side. One can fit two fingers around the handle (maybe three is you have small hands). It feels aimed towards small pieces of woodworking. The depth stop is a little bit fiddle to set parallel. It would be better if it ran in a groove like old Stanleys, as someone else mentioned. There are small issues with the finish. Nothing that a light file can’t adjust. The wood piece on the fence also deserved some sanding and waxing. At this price point I expected better finish. Loses 1 star for these (depth stop and finish). The kerfing blade is set for cross-cut and the kerf itself feels a too thick for such a small plane (around 2mm on my calliper). It would be nice to have blade with a thinner kerf and set to rip. Problem 1 The part that fixes the kerfing plane to the body came misaligned in mine, which prevents the bolt to be fastened making the blade wobbly and useless. Loses 1 star for that. Problem 2 As soon as the plane arrived, I opened the box and realized the problem I wrote to Workshop Haven “sales” e-mail to inform the issue and request the replacement of the faulty part. I received no reply. I wrote a second e-mail 3 days later for “sales” and also another for “support” e-mail. As I write this review, 4 days have passed since my second and third e-mails and I have received no reply from Workshop Haven (not even an acknowledgement that they received my message). Loses 2 stars for this.”

4 Helpful Report

Posted 1 year ago

“this little tool is an absolute joy, not only in its use but in its looks and build quality. its almost impossible to understand how such quality can be matched with such a low price. I genuinely would have paid more for this item. Highly recommended.”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 year ago